Goollllaazzzooooo!!! Bouncing Boca in Copa quarters

It's turning out to be a pretty good week for Boca Juniors. On Sunday they beat title favourites and local rivals River in the superclasicÃÂ³.

And last night, they took on Cruzeiro in Brazil and won 2-1, sending the holders through to the semis. AND WHAT A GOAL! Rodrigo Palacio, who has been far from on form, scored a great goal from the edge of the area on 36 minutes.

Just before half-time, Martin Palermo (who else?) headed in the second with perfect accuracy. Cruzeiro scraped one back, but it was too late.

Boca will now play Mexicans Atlas, who should be comfortable opponents for the team of the moment.

Palermo's post-goal peck for Palacio

Battle of the year

However, the game all of Buenos Aires seem to be talking about is tonight's second-leg encounter between River Plate and San Lorenzo. It has already been called the 'battle of the year' after last week's bad-tempered game, in which dirty laundry was hung out by players reportedly arguing throughout the game about alleged wife-snatching.

But we at Argy Bargy don't encourage scurrilous gossip* and remain sure tonight will all be about the football.

Speakers in the Bombonera?

And in a bizarre move, Boca's administration were accused Ã¢ÂÂ mostly, it has to be said, by River fans Ã¢ÂÂ of placing speakers on the terraces to make more noise. Hard to believe in what is considered the loudest stadium in the world, but with an ever-decreasing amount of away fans allowed at the superclasicÃÂ³, could it be symptomatic of the quietening of fans in Argentina?

No, of course not. * Oh, go on then. The clash was between River's Eduardo Tuzzio and San Lorenzo's Gonzalo Bergessio. Bergessio brought up an old one on Tuzzio. Apparently it was about three years ago that Tuzzio's 'friend' and River Plate teammate, Horacio Ameli, did the dirty on Tuzzio with the latter's wife. Well that's enough to put anyone off their game.